My six-month dentist appointment was coming up… Like most private practices these days, they send the usual automated text reminder from a short number, like the ones we get from political surveys, multi-factor-authenticators, I am sure you get them too. It was a crazy busy week, so the first one got buried, the second one I swiped away while I was driving (correction, stopped at a red light 😇 ). A few days passed, all of the above completely gone from my mental hard drive…then my phone actually rang. It was Theresa from the front office. She didn't open with a robotic script or a confirmation demand. Instead, she started by asking how my boys were doing now that summer is here. "Any cool camps or trips lined up for them?" We chatted for a minute. Just a real human voice cutting through the noise on a chaotic day. It immediately slowed me down and made me present. When she gently brought up next week’s appointment, I actually took a second to look at my calendar. Lo and behold... it wasn’t there. I had completely missed it. Because she was right there on the line, we shifted things around, she was incredibly patient, and we found a new slot. I hung up actually feeling good. Look, we’re all chasing the next tech solution, automated reminders, AI notifications, algorithmic nudges (I am playing with this stuff too). They have their place. But sometimes the simplest tool still wins: a real person picking up the phone. Digital noise is easy to tune out. A warm, human voice? That’s hard to ignore. It reminded me of something I’ve seen over and over in clinical trials too. When you need people to actually show up and stay engaged, the human touch beats everything else. Every single time.
Tech with some human oversight makes all the difference - novel idea!
Amen, Nico.
So true. There is nothing better than human connection. Automation can help and facilitate but in the end - a real helping hand is what creates retention.